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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23257216">THE TRUE HISTORY OF HARRY JAMES POTTER</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/seedofstephano/pseuds/seedofstephano'>seedofstephano</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 05:48:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,181</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23257216</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/seedofstephano/pseuds/seedofstephano</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Colin Creevey publishes an article.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>THE TRUE HISTORY OF HARRY JAMES POTTER</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>listen i know colin d*es but i wanted to see grown up colin write about his hero</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>THE TRUE HISTORY OF HARRY JAMES POTTER</strong><br/>
By Colin Creevey<br/>
2 May 2008</p>
<p>By now, many of us have heard the story of the Chosen One. His heroics have been discussed and retold for years, and it’s easy to see why. He stopped one of the darkest wizards in magical history, Lord Voldemort. (I use the name here, for Harry himself often said that fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself.) His actions brought about the magical renaissance we are seeing now, one decade after the Battle of Hogwarts, and we all owe him many thanks.</p>
<p>Often, though, I have seen it said that Harry Potter does not deserve the praise he gets. He is often compared to the likes of Albus Dumbledore, Merlin, or Godric Gryffindor himself. I find this unfair and unwarranted. All of these men did great things, but I believe that Harry has something unique that sets him apart from these men: his constant desire for love, and his unwavering trust in his friends and the goodness of humanity.</p>
<p>“Love is a better teacher than duty.” These words were spoken by Muggle mathematician and physicist, Albert Einstein, though I can hear them echoed through the way that Harry lives. Every moment of his life was defined by love.</p>
<p>Born to loving couple James and Lily Potter, Harry spent only a brief year with two people who fought for a world that would be a better, safer, kinder place. In letters written by Lily before her death, she describes the joy that filled their small home in Godric’s Hollow.</p>
<p>On 31 October 1981, this joy would be brought to a sudden halt. Harry’s parents were murdered, and this terrible moment forever marked him as “The Boy Who Lived.” This label would follow him, though he would remain unaware. The Daily Prophet celebrated this infant who brought about the end of the First Wizarding War, and there were articles speculating on Harry’s whereabouts up to five years after.</p>
<p>In an article published in the Daily Prophet on 31 July 1983, Rita Skeeter writes,</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <em>How this infant brought about the end of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is, as of now, still unknown. Harry Potter seemed to manage what dozens of supposedly expertly trained Aurors could not: stop the darkness the wizarding world had been suffering for far too long. What power does he have that fully grown specialists did not? Perhaps it is not a question of circumstance or luck, but a question of more sinister abilities. His survival is an anomaly, and I predict we will be seeing more of Mr. Chosen One’s dark power when he starts up at Hogwarts. </em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>Though perhaps the most extreme, several other journalists, including notable Betty Braithwaite, junior reporter at the time, and editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, Barnabus Cuffe, supported Skeeter’s more negative views of the young Harry.</p>
<p>Little did the wizarding world know of the world in which the Boy Who Lived grew up. Harry grew up in the Muggle world in Surrey with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. His neighborhood was picturesque, but the neglect and abuse left Harry feeling lost for years. Unable to remember the love and joy that his late parents raised him with, Harry was resigned to a small cupboard under the stairs and forced to act similarly to a servant. It wasn’t until the arrival of his Hogwarts letter that his unhappy circumstances began to change.</p>
<p>“My first friend was Hagrid. Privet Drive was a nightmare, and Hagrid was the one tasked with delivering my letter to me. If it weren’t for him, I don’t think I would’ve ever made it to Hogwarts,” Harry shares, remembering the night when he finally learned the truth about magic and his place in the wizarding world.</p>
<p>In Hogwarts, Harry found true friends in Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. During his school years, he often credited his successes to his friends, and the trio were rarely seen apart. They faced struggle after struggle, battling three headed dogs, Basilisks, and even Dementors on multiple accounts.</p>
<p>Though trouble never seemed to follow too far behind, Harry’s time at Hogwarts was happy. Meals with Ron and Hermione, Quidditch matches, visits to Hagrid, and time spent in the Gryffindor tower still remain some of Harry’s happiest memories. Harry, who had spent so much of his youth treated with distaste and disgust, would find solace, joy, and love in days spent at Hogwarts.</p>
<p>Harry’s acts of love were simply that: acts of love. His rescue of Ginny Weasley (now Ginny Potter) at only twelve years old was driven by the desire to save someone in need. His defense of Remus Lupin was driven by the idea that no man should be defined by traits outside of their control. His first acts at Hogwarts were to reinforce the simple fact that love conquers all.</p>
<p>On 24 June 1995, Harry Potter was sent into the third and final trial of the Triwizard Tournament. That morning, there were four contestants: Viktor Krum from Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour (now Fleur Weasley) from Beauxbatons, Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts, and Harry Potter from Hogwarts. That night, only three would remain.</p>
<p>What Harry witnessed that night—which the majority of the wizarding world and the Daily Prophet denied—was the resurgence of Lord Voldemort. More importantly, he witnessed the murder of Cedric Diggory. His life was taken by a man who never cared for anyone more than himself. Diggory, who was always described as fair, and kind and good, died in a single moment.</p>
<p>Cedric Diggory’s murder was the turning point when Harry’s acts of love became acts of rebellion.</p>
<p>After this most terrible tragedy, the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet worked to slander Harry. They called him a liar, they called him deranged, they called him every name in the book. They defamed a fifteen-year-old child.</p>
<p>Under the constant watch of Dolores Umbridge, former High Inquisitor and former Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, Harry began the famous Dumbledore’s Army. Angered by the lies being spread and the inability to learn practical skills, he started this group from the sole desire to teach and to help us understand.</p>
<p>I remember the words Harry said during our first meeting: “Every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now: students. If they can do it, why not us?” In a castle built for the sole purpose of teaching the magical youth, our knowledge and learning became an act of rebellion that Umbridge and other Ministry officials would try to quell.</p>
<p>Harry did not start Dumbledore’s Army as an act of arrogance or defiance. Harry believed that it was necessary for us to understand that dark wizards cared little about proper spell flourishes or how young we were. I remember the image of Cedric Diggory that was pinned to the wall in our practice room. Everything we were taught those months was to prevent another murder, another life being stolen.</p>
<p>I have never met a person more suitable for teaching than Harry Potter. He encouraged each and every one of us to practice and improve. Because of him, I learned the Impediment Jinx in only three meetings, and I can still cast it without a thought.</p>
<p>When Professor Dumbledore was forcibly removed, all of Hogwarts felt his absence. The tyranny of Umbridge was nearly unbearable, especially since all of Dumbledore’s Army felt the loss of our meetings.</p>
<p>The meetings felt like home.</p>
<p>The attack at the Ministry of Magic on 18 June 1996 showed the wizarding world what all of Dumbledore’s Army had already known: that Lord Voldemort was back and that Harry Potter was innocent.</p>
<p>This night was yet another moment fueled by the love that Harry felt. He believed that his godfather, Sirius Black, had been taken prisoner. In the need to protect those he cared most, Harry, along with Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and Ron Weasley, stormed the Ministry of Magic and battled several infamous Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange.</p>
<p>The Daily Prophet issued an apology to Harry that week, but the scars and damage from that year will never be forgotten.</p>
<p>When Albus Dumbledore died on 30 June 1997, the entire wizarding world mourned. His guidance had kept Hogwarts safe for his entire career, and without him, dark times were coming.</p>
<p>The Death Eaters who had stormed the castle that night had already desecrated the Hogwarts that Professor Dumbledore had worked so hard to build. Without his protection, no student would be safe.</p>
<p>That year was difficult for every student. Some were forced to leave their homes and hide from the world that tried very hard to destroy them, such as myself and Dean Thomas. Some were trapped in the prison that had once been their second home, like Neville Longbottom and every other Hogwarts student. Some were constantly waiting to hear news of more death and destruction.</p>
<p>Harry, however, took up arms once again and went on a quest to try to fix the wizarding world. With the help of his constant companions and dearest friends, Ron, Hermione, and Harry set out to learn more about Lord Voldemort and figure out a way to stop him.</p>
<p>The full details of that year is known only to the three of them. “It’s not something we like to talk about,” said Hermione Granger. “It was really hard for all of us, and we weren’t the same people at the end of it all.”</p>
<p>“Most of it was waiting. Waiting for the moments where we could act. It really wasn’t that interesting,” Harry shared, rubbing the scar that had marked him from infancy.</p>
<p>Ron Weasley’s account was similar: “It was bl--dy awful. We were hungry most nights, and bored the other ones. The rare moments of action weren’t enough to get rid of the energy we had been working with for years. You couldn’t pay me enough to do it over again.”</p>
<p>Their year-long quest culminated with the return to the place they had called home and the start of the Battle of Hogwarts.</p>
<p>The atrocities that were committed on that day have been depicted in many forms, including a joint gallery by Dean Thomas and Padma Patil. Countless lives were lost, and many more were permanently scarred. It is only by the quick actions of Oliver Wood, Puddlemore United player, that I am alive to write these words today.</p>
<p>Among all the atrocities, one moment seems to be forgotten by the majority of the wizarding world: Harry’s last steps into the Forbidden Forest and the sacrifice of his life.</p>
<p>We had all heard the announcement. His demands for Harry to surrender himself to spare us all. It was an impossible choice, and not one many can say they would accept.</p>
<p>Yet Harry did. Harry, without a goodbye to anyone, walked into the Forbidden Forest and faced Lord Voldemort without any hesitation.</p>
<p>Harry believed in all of us. Harry believed even in Lord Voldemort, who had promised a cease-fire after his sacrifice. When Harry took those steps into those woods, he never expected to walk back out.</p>
<p>Love spared him. The love that had defined him for his entire life spared him. It was no accident. Harry was defined by love, and it was this love that finally put an end to the war.</p>
<p>“You won’t be killing anyone else tonight. ‘You won’t be able to kill any of them, ever again. Don’t you get it? I was ready to die to stop you hurting these people. I’ve done what my mother did. They’re protected from you.”</p>
<p>With these words, Harry had shown himself to be far greater than any wizard that came before him. Even in the final moments, before the duel to end all duels, Harry tried to reason with Lord Voldemort: “You’re right. But before you try to kill me, I’d advise you to think about what you’ve done, think, and try for some remorse, Riddle. It’s your one last chance, it’s all you’ve got left. I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise. Be a man. Try, try for some remorse.”</p>
<p>This kindness, shown even to the most evil of men, is what elevates Harry above the likes of Merlin, Gryffindor, and Dumbledore. His compassion, founded on love, is his defining heroic trait. More than his dueling skills, more than his resourcefulness, more than his knowledge. His compassion sets him apart.</p>
<p>In the last moments, Harry chose the disarming charm.</p><hr/>
<p>Ten years later, and Harry Potter has taken a pause from the Auror office. Father of two, with another due later this year, he enjoys the moments of quiet and peace he finds with his family. “I never wanted to be a hero. I did it because I had to. But I don’t have to fight anymore. So now, I’m going to enjoy my quiet life with my friends and family.”</p>
<p>Harry Potter is a hero for all the reasons people write about. But I think, most importantly, his love is the most heroic thing of all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>in this universe, colin is still excitable and still sometimes falls to hero worship. but he almost died. so i believe he's mellowed out a bit in the decade following the battle of hogwarts. </p>
<p>i hope you liked it! colin is one of my favorite characters and i love imagining his thoughts on things</p></blockquote></div></div>
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